Nine months old, and more adorable with each passing day.

“Time for sleeps,” I tell her, stroking her head and laying her down in her playpen. I still can’t bear to move her into her own room, so she’s still in the room with Nixon and me.

When he moved my bed in here, he had to get himself a twin bed because the two queens took up too much space. I smile at the thought of everything Nixon does to make us comfortable and safe.

The light voices from downstairs travel up to us, so I close the door, put on Erica’s nightlight, and begin her bedtime song.

“Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder where you are,

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky,

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

Look down on us from where you are.”

Taking her monitor, I come downstairs just as Nixon is getting home. The place is buzzing with bodies for a get together Hayden’s having.

I look down at my jeans and blouse and cringe. There’s a little bit of spit up on my shoulder. I’m underdressed compared to the glamorous dresses and suits the guests are wearing.

His get togethers have changed dramatically over the last year.

Nixon’s eyes find mine through the crowd, and I smile when I see him in jeans and a T-shirt. The crowd parts for him like he has a force field around him, pushing them to move.

He commands any room he’s in, even wearing casual attire.

Licking his lips, his gaze moves from my eyes to my mouth, and I try to ignore the pounding of my heart and the dull ache forming in my gut.

Things have changed so much between us. It’s like we’re dancing around this tension sizzling between us.

I’m too scared to make a move in case it’s all in my head and he’s just being Nixon, my best friend. Every instinct tells me it’s so much more, but if I ruin this by making such a huge error, I wouldn’t survive it.

He’s become my oxygen. I need him.

“How did she go down?” he asks, rubbing his thumb over the milk spit up on my shoulder. I hand him the monitor and watch the dazed effect take over his features.

I’ve never known anyone to bring Nixon Pearson to his knees like Erica can. She has him wrapped around her tiny baby finger, and I feel sorry for anyone who ever makes her unhappy. His love for that girl is fierce, and he has three brothers all standing in line to protect her, heart and soul.

“I should go give her a kiss goodnight?” He poses it as a question, but we both know it doesn’t matter what I say. He’s going to kiss our baby goodnight.

“You look beautiful by the way. Haircut?” he queries, reaching around me to take a breadstick from a buffet of food laid out.

Just one more thing I love about this boy. He notices small things and always knows when I need a boost. “Just showered.” I bite my cheek and hide my embarrassment by looking away from him.

His fingers grasp under my chin, tilting my head to look up at him.

“Want to order some food and go watch a movie?”

I love him.

“There’s tons of food. We can just take some of this.”

Raising a brow, he looks over the buffet and shakes his head.

“Rowan, I’m eating a breadstick right now. A fucking breadstick. Because all that fish in shells crap looks like baby vomit.”

A laugh rumbles up my chest. “They’re oysters. They’re supposed to be an aphrodisiac…”

Silence.

We both just stare at each other, my cheeks turning pink and stomach knotting.

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve tasted baby puke.” He winks, grabbing a plate and loading it up before taking my hand and leading me upstairs.

The movie room has become a sanctuary of sorts for us. We like spending time in here, and with having a baby, I don’t like leaving her, so we don’t get to go to the actual theater.

Before I had Erica, that was something Lucy and I used to do together, but ever since my dad hurt her, neither the boys nor Trevor like us doing things alone, because my dad is still out there.

Thoughts of him linger in the back of my mind like a boogeyman under the bed.

My emotions were always conflicted over him, but after what he did to Lucy, and with no reason as to why, it’s just left me hating the DNA running through my veins.

“I’m going to take a quick shower. Go pick something to watch,” Nix tells me, placing our plates down.

“Okay.”

My entire body is hyperaware of him, even a subtle brush of his skin with mine as he passes me nearly makes me groan.

Damn, I need some alone time to get myself under control.

I scan some of the new movies he’s added and pick something light and funny to try to get my mind out the gutter and cool my skin.

The smell of the puke on my shoulder makes me cringe. Dropping the remote on the chair, I race to our room, whip my top off, and rummage through the dresser to find one of Nixon’s baggy tees to put on. The shower turns off, and I panic. I quickly pull the shirt on and end up with my head in an arm hole. As the door opens, the rest of the shirt is around my neck, leaving my bra-covered breasts on display, but that’s not what has my cheeks setting a fire blazing down my neck.

Nixon is completely naked.

Flesh…all of it…just…right there. “I...erm…oh…erm,” I stutter.

“There were no towels.” He doesn’t cover his junk with his hands. Instead, he stares into me, not at me.

My teeth sink into my lip, and I tug the shirt off my head, but don’t make a move to put it on. We stare at each other as his cock thickens. That’s all the invitation I need.

Because I’ve needed him for too long.

When I drop the shirt to the floor, he takes in a sharp breath.

Yes. This is happening. I can’t keep denying every moment I think about doing this with him.

I push my pants down in a brazen act, showing a confidence I don’t feel.

My hand moves to cover the stretch marks on my lower stomach, but he puts his hand up, and whispers, “Don’t.”

I freeze, my bones solidifying, my chest moving rapidly up and down with my intake of breath.

“Don’t ever cover yourself from me. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

This is Nixon and me. We’ve always had this chemistry between us, but now, it’s evolved into so much more. I think when he actually touches me, I might combust.

“Take it all off, Rowan. Let me see you.” It’s a plea, not a command, and my legs almost buckle at the desperation in his tone.

I reach back and unsnap my bra, letting it fall down my arms to the floor.

His eyes rake over the newly exposed skin, and he swipes his tongue over his bottom lip, making my thighs squeeze.

“We’re going to wreck our friendship,” I warn, tucking my fingers into my panties and trailing them down my legs.

“We’re just improving it, strengthening it, completing it.”

He moves then, his strides eating the small space between us, until there’s only a tiny gap keeping our bodies from being consumed by the other. He grasps the back of my neck, pulling me to him, and his lips crash against mine as my pelvis tilts upwards, needing contact with his. My breasts brush against his chest, the aching need hardening my nipples, our contact igniting what’s become undeniable. We’re made to be together. Nothing before this matters. We’re the now—the forever.

It’s everything.

E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.

Our movements are in sync, like we’ve been doing this our entire lives. His tongue moves against mine, tasting every part of mine.

We duel and dance, his hands moving to my hips and lifting me so I can wrap my legs around his waist.

A gasp sounds from my lips as his cock makes contact with my slit.

Skin on skin.

Flesh to flesh.

Soul to soul.

His hands take command, caressing my skin in ownership.

His teeth nip and bite as his tongue flutters over my skin, trailing kisses down my neck.

His grip on my body is bruising, and I can’t get enough. Grinding my hips against him, I moan and beg for him to take us all the way.

Gripping me closer, like he can’t get close enough, like his body is trying to absorb my own, he takes us to the bed and sits down with me on this lap.

He smells of the forest after a rainfall, and I’m intoxicated by him.

I lick and caress his neck with my lips, tasting him. I never want to stop.

Strong palms move down to my ass, and he hesitates, resting his forehead against mine.

“You sure you’re ready for this, Ro? Because once you’re mine, baby, you’re mine forever.”

“I’ve always been yours,” I breathe, lifting my hips and sinking down onto this cock.

We both let out a harsh exhale, and then groan into each other’s mouths.

We fit like we were created for each other, his girth stretching me just right before the point of pain.

I flex my hips and swallow his moan. He meets my movement with deep strokes of his own.

Everything else disappears, and all that’s left is him and me, creating music with our panting. I drag my body over his, over and over, slow and deep, a dance of two souls.

“Why did we wait so long?” I groan, twisting my hips. He controls my movements while his mouth devours my nipples.

“Because you didn’t know then.”

“Know what?” I murmur, my muscles tightening as deep pleasure rolls through me in waves of euphoria.

“Know you belong to me, and I to you.”